“The Design of Everyday
Things,” by Donald Norman is an introductory book on user centred design.
It is predictive and primes on basic terminology and transferable concepts that
are as valid today as they were when the book was written. The fact that it is more
than two decades old does not reduce its value. Through a diversity of examples,
Norman explains concepts and terminology on the field such as affordances, conventions,
visibility, conceptual models, mapping, usability, user centred design, the seven
stages of action, etc. Many are other substantial contributions of this book to
the discipline. Instead of mentioning/repeating the most obvious it could be more
useful to stress on the less noticed arguments and the underlying implications
of his posture. It was salient the fact that he invites more reflection in the
development of products in a way that resembles strategic planning for conflict
prevention and management where needs and interest are fundamental components
of any strategy. Norman urges to think about these as well from the preface
when he urges designers to study people and take their “needs and interests”
into account. In the design field, akin to any other if considering conflict a
difficulty or a contradiction, the relevance of dialog is fundamental. A dialog
is established through feedback and analysis with the participation of a
diversity of approaches. Seen this way, it could be considered the interdisciplinariety
and “project management of a design.” No process can be absent of elements
different from the functional, psychology, multiculturalism, economics, public
administration, engineering, and even the laws are connected to the way objects
are conceived, manufactured and commercialized, just to mention a few areas.
When thinking of the book in connection to the last assignment we had, it
leaves the impression that design is all that matters, because everything is
concerned with the creation, development and materialization of objects. Living
in a world that requires the material for survival, designing these artefacts
is a matter of life support. Paying attention to creations at the strategic
level would also result in better design, also being responsive to people´s
needs and interests can smooth the transition to a life predominantly mediated
by artefacts that is the digital living, and the internet of things, phenomena
that Norman could also predict on his work while mentioning the upcoming advent
of intelligent home appliances. The connections to make are unavoidable and fundamental,
not a matter of choice of luck, such as the doors, or the light switches at
home. It is an imperative to focus on the linkage/relationship between subjects
and objects. At the same time, making it all exceedingly “easy” for people, could
also lead to the trivialization of human effort and its importance for human
development. In short, we must remain the subjects that control objects instead
of disempowering people from the capacity of analysing, learning, figuring
processes out. I would never trade off my ability to find a way and understand
my location for the comforts of using GPS technology. To give up such a basic
human skill is beyond my comprehension, much more so that some teach their kids
how to use devices for geolocation instead of how to read simple signs on the
street level, the natural indications such as the position of the sun, or just a
paper map. Hence, this book made me worry about the way objects also change
people´s potential, capacity, and mind. In a very short section of the book, “Don’t
take away control,” in page 197, the author suggests similarly, but not
strongly enough, if to consider that the whole book inclines the other way.
It would be
reductionist to state a central argument to the book other than the previous,
because it would encompass all of the specific advice Normal suggest. The users’
needs are to be satisfied, and hence they should be consulted; aesthetics are
important but they can be a consequence of conscious and effective design. This
was a very fast read, simple and direct with conceptual value accessible to
everyone. This is a positive feature as it also demystifies design, inducing
the idea that designing and engineering is all about trade-offs, not fantastic
and futuristic creativity as some might imagine. On the other hand, and despite
the fact that the author is a cognitive scientists, the text lightens the
content when discussing cognition, as I extended on during the module report on
the matter, to conclude with the following: Why Norman states that memory is
knowledge on the head when memory can be faulty and mistaken? Is it
not simply information stored? Knowledge thus, is a term he could have avoided
considering how much philosophy has dealt with it already. It seems that
scholars have more or less done the same things in their confined territories,
focusing on their own fields, instead of integrating entirely compatible
observations to create a full view of the big picture on Human potential. Norman
could have expanded this topic connecting it with Activity Theory, according to
his proposal to work across disciplines, integrating expertise. It is likely
that the author purposefully resorted to simplify the language and used a colloquial
style, at the expense of academic precision, but it does not diminish the value
of this work that popularized the notion of responsible design. This has turned
into a reference text for everyone involved in the task of research and
development of products, in the field of innovation and even on the impact of
regulations on designing and engineering, with the economic policy of states
revolving around or seriously affected by its innovation system rules and the
way it supports research and development. It is a very clear book filled with
real life examples that everyone can relate to. Innovation studies have widely
discussed the impact of technology on institutions and society; it could be
interesting to learn if the connections were made by academics in the field of
design and engineering on other works, books and articles. Norman very briefly
adds a section on design and society (p.209) that indicates his recognition on
the institutional changes that follow the dissemination of a given technology.
User´s
experiences can be simplified and favoured when the process of design
concentrates in making tasks efficient and outcomes effective; The author
summarizes his proposals into 7 principles that also wrap up the substance of
the book and can serve as concluding remarks to his theory: Consider what he
calls knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head, make task structure
more efficient, bridge the gulfs of evaluation and execution so usability
becomes more visible, map tasks correctly, affordances are not the only
measures of potential, because constrains have the same power when utilized
intelligently, consider mistakes, and resort to standardization when nothing
else is possible.
